Fiesta Chili and Cheezy Rice Bowl (Vegan)

This is another great recipe for a crowd, or to give you several meals.  Healthy, economical, but most of all, YUMMY!

Don't be scared by what seems like a long ingredient list, once everything is prepped, you just dump all the stuff for the chili into the pot and let it cook.  Also, feel free to use your food processor to speed up the veggie chopping, like I did.

Fiesta Chili

1 large or 2 small onions, minced or finely diced
4 large, ripe tomatoes, diced, with juice (or 1-28oz can diced tomatoes, with juice)
2 carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (optional)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
350g package tempeh, crumbled
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked beans), or kidney beans
1 cup fresh or frozen sweet corn
3-4 tbls taco seasoning (recipe below)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 can tomato paste

Place everything into a large pot or skillet and simmer until veggies are desired doneness.  Serve over Cheezy Rice (recipe below).



Cheezy Rice

1.5 cups long grain brown rice
1 lb cubed, roasted butternut squash
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup salsa
3 cups soy milk, or other plain, unsweetened, non-dairy milk
1 tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Place rice and 3 cups water in pot, bring to a boil and then turn down heat and cook until water has been absorbed.  Meanwhile, place all remaining ingredients, reserving 1.5 cups of milk, in food processor and process until smooth.  Add additional milk, as needed, to thin out sauce.  Stir in about 1/2 of cheeze mixture into cooked rice.  Either freeze the rest or save for another purpose (great over baked potatoes or pasta too!).

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2 tbls chili powder
2 tbls paprika
2 tbls ground cumin
1 tbls oregano
1 tbls onion powder
1 tbls garlic powder
1 tbls salt
Cayenne pepper, to taste

This recipe has been entered into Diet, Dessert & Dogs' Wellness Weekend for November 1-5, 2012.